


Should have been

by oofen_flugen



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Freed Justine, Depersonalization, Grief/Mourning, Implied Character Death, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Self-Sacrifice, Team as Family, characters to be added as they appear, dark guilds and dark pasts, the whole package
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:15:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27925876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oofen_flugen/pseuds/oofen_flugen
Summary: After a job request that should have been in and out turned into a trap that seems inescapable Freed protects his team, but at what cost?
Relationships: Laxus Dreyar & Raijinshuu, Laxus Dreyar/Freed Justine
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	Should have been

The mission should have been simple, though they might have been slightly biased. Mirajane dropped a new stack of job requests on the counter each week and pinned them on the board before the morning rush of wizards bombarded her. Laxus had been called in earlier that morning by Makarov and spotted the A-class job with a reward too high to pass up. Mira nodded knowingly, with a silent chuckle as she marked Laxus and the Thunder Legion down, before pressing the guild stamp on the paper and handing it off. Despite the train ride that made Laxus internally groan as he walked back to the Thunder Legion’s shared apartment, the job was perfect. Two days, housing provided by the mayor, and no negotiating. Fight and leave. Rinse and repeat. It was early enough that Bicklow and Evergreen were still asleep. Freed would inevitably be awake, probably settled into the corner of the living room, pouring over a book that sprayed dust after each page was turned and meticulously writing notes in the margins. Coffee would still be steaming on the kitchen counter waiting for the rest of the house to cycle through with various states of bedhead. Laxus was proved correct again and gave a small nod to Freed in the corner holding up the job request as he walked past and laid it on the table, collapsing into one of the chairs. With one lingering glance, Freed closed the book and rested it and the quill to the side before peering at the job request and humming in agreement. Bickslow and Evergreen shuffled down the stairs shortly thereafter, and by noon the team had boarded the train, even if Laxus complained about it. Freed, of course, burst into a monologue detailing the benefits and practically of their venture and his own decision in their route. Laxus zoned out and knew Ever and Bicks did too, only responding with slightly off nods at their captain. It was endearing but didn’t make his motion sickness any less terrible. Light conversation always filled their compartment- albeit Laxus who held his head in his hands with headphones in. The town was small and quaint, with an abnormally large center square filled with vendors that called out their assorted goods that only Bicklow seemed to take notice of, evident by hands filled with various samples and the occasional comment. The mayor pointed them towards the wizards that needed to be taken out and went back to the main town building. 

The mission really should have been simple. 

They were surrounded by dozens of wizards- all of whom seemed competent- cradling various forms of enhanced magic weapons or outstretched hands with balls of energy growing. Laxus had been split off from the rest of the group immediately and only knew their approximate location from the sounds of their battle and the occasional glow that each of their magic caused. There were no villainous preambles, no hesitation, no moment of realization. Their attackers struck the moment Laxus and the Thunder Legion had entered the clearing. Even if his own senses were dull and muted compared to the other dragon slayers, Laxus could still make out the smell of his team’s blood wafting through the air and the short, rugged breaths each of them took. Laxus had been able to deflect the first few rounds of attack, throwing out a spark of lightning that ebbed in the air and pushed against the mage’s magic until they both combusted in the center. Canopies of smoke and dust erupted at each failed attempt to hold the bursts of magic back. Laxus didn’t even see the attack from his side until his breath hitched as he hit the ground. Whatever magic had hit him evaporated into a mist. With a hand placed on the ground, Laxus pushed himself up with a grunt, but another wave of attacks brought him down again. He brought up a shaking hand only for the lightning he summoned to fizzle out. He cursed to himself, bolting upright as quickly as his body would let him and taking off for the one remotely stable piece of shelter he could find. He assumed it was part of a property that whatever dark guild the bastards attacking them had destroyed previously, but never got close enough to confirm. Another blast cascaded into his side, leaving his ears ringing and a wave of nausea that left his mind blank other than the impulse to grab the rest of them and  _ run.  _ A foot pressed on his chest, sending a streak of pain coursing through his back, before kicking Laxus to face the mage. A smirk plastered their face and the intricate designs of their black guild mark contrasted their pale face. More wizards surrounded him, and even more so when Bicklow was thrown back with the same force as him, followed by Evergreen. Whatever spell had disrupted Laxus’ magic seemed to do the same for Evergreen. Even with glasses down, and a scowl at her opponents, the fluidity of their teasing attacks taunted her stone eyes. 

The mage in front of Laxus- presumably their leader- shot one disdainful look at them before another attack rested in their palm. There was no hesitation. The rest of the guild followed suit and built their own respective attacks in their hand and fired. Laxus braced for the impact and could hear the panicked help from Bicklow, only to be confronted with silence and a purple glow.  _ Freed.  _ People always seemed to have the misconception that Freed needed careful planning to erect one of his barriers, and while enough time made the things inimitable, he could throw out barriers with simple rules and no commitment for hours of use in a heartbeat. Freed materialized in front of his barrier, a hand outstretched and touching the wall illuminating the runes around it. The leader shouted something and another volley of attacks pounded against the barrier. Freed cussed and drew his sword. The runes completely materialized and his own dark purple magic that expelled from his hands fed them. Laxus pushed himself up. Forests surrounded the clearing, and from the spaces between the overbearing trees stepped reinforcements. A lot of them. They circled from behind and Freed flung his sword protecting, and entrapping his team. Evergreen was the first to stand up and the first to see the array of enemies.

“Your magic can go through the barrier,” Freed hissed out, hands flicking through the air with last-minute changes in the runic writing, “I don’t know how long I can hold this. Take enough of them out so we can escape.” 

Bickslow nodded, sending his babies in five different directions and firing. Evergreen launched her fairy glitter spells back to back, their formal titles lost in the panic. Lightning tore and illuminated paths through the mages. Even when the attacks had cleared the main force of the dark guild remained, this time with a scowl painted on their faces. More than twenty enemies laid on the ground, most in some state of paralysis, and the next line of soldiers took their place just as quickly. Something behind their ranks glowed. It looked like some sort of crystal. The insides were cracked, and ribbons of external damage made the object dull and misty. It sat on a pedestal, adorned with the same guild mark that branded the guild’s members. An intricate circle, with spirals that consolidated into an arrow at the base of the thickest line. It had ropes tied to the pedestal. They had dragged it with them. Another volley of attacks was sent from the inside of the barrier, but Bicklow’s blasts and Laxus’ lightning alike seemed to steer from their target at the last moment and deflect into the ground. 

“Aim for the crystal,” Freed barked, before falling on one knee as he braced the barrier for another attack. Laxus was the first to act and the sky darkened as he watched his teammates pant to build up their own attacks and Freed stand back up on shaking legs. The leader raised a hand and their footsoldiers bombarded them again, and from the smoke, a beaming blast of lightning exited the rune barrier and hurtled towards the crystal. An inch from the object’s surface, it twisted, sharps escaping and hovering in the air as a result, before it followed the leader’s finger and power-hungry glance back at their team. The lightning struck quickly and the ground vibrated. Laxus had put magic into his blast until it was in danger of exhausting his reserves. It happened before he could even blink, but his own blast connected with Freed through the barrier, and the man was pushed back and rolled with the momentum countless times before finally lying still with occasional spasms and residual sparks. 

The rest of the Fairytail mages were locked in place each shouting Freed’s name with expressions of horror morphing into a rage as they saw the smiling face of the guild leader and the rune barrier disintegrating in front of them. 

Any restrain that had existed prior in their own brutality or conservation of their magic vanished, as attack upon attack was released on the enemies. Some of the magic was deflected, but the sheer quantity caused some hits to go through. Another line of soldiers went down, but more came in an instant. The leader knew most of the soldiers were expendable. Their magical power was pitiful on their own, but the sheer numbers and the land they controlled gave them every advantage. Unconsciously, Laxus, Evergreen, and Bickslow had surrounded their fallen friend. The attacks came too frequently for them to check on his condition. Evergreen ended up using all of her fairy attacks just to counteract the beams of energy being sent at them. 

The master sighed and glanced over his battalion, before releasing his own spell that shattered the ground beneath them and created a wave of rubble that buried the Thunder Legion and Laxus under. Black spots clouded Laxus’ vision and Bicklow’s babies fell to the ground with a disheartening shatter. Evergreen tried to sit up but winced as the rubble tore through the surface of her skin. Laxus’s whole body was numb. He didn’t want to know if it was purely from adrenaline or from his injuries. The leader raised his hand and the soldiers fell to one knee with bowed heads. He took long strides before standing in front of them. 

“I was expecting more. At least our problem will be easy to solve.” He raised his hand again, his own guild mark on his forearm glowing with a sickly yellow. The ground began to rumble once more, but their enemy’s face only showed confusion, with furrowed brows punctuating each step he took backward as the rumbling increased. The rubble shook and hovered in the air before being cast to the side. The pile parted into two sections. Freed pushed himself up on one knee, face obscured by his hair and the tip of his sword dragging against the ground. Laxus shouted again, but it fell on deaf ears. The leader regained a semblance of composure, before laughing to himself and raising his arm again. Freed teleported and caught the man’s arm and twisted it with a snap until he was pressed against the dirt. 

“Those who break the rules shall suffer a fate far worse than death,” Freed started, his voice soft but carried by a dark undertone that felt final. His stare never wavered from the man at his feet. “but those who hurt  _ them _ will regret their own existence.”

The man was thrown to the side with a flick of Freed’s wrist before his sword was raised to the rest of the army. Freed turned to look at his teammates, lips pursed together and cursed eye glowing through his hair, as he saw their various states of injury- Bickslow was still unconscious. He was ambivalent talking to their leader and the sentiment faded into something sorrowful as a new set of runes surrounded each of his teammates, and they disappeared in a purple haze. Laxus’s body protested the movement, but he still stammered to his feet to escape the entrapment, only for his fists to slam against a new runic wall and for the battlefield to disappear. The last thing he saw was Freed facing the army again.

The mission should have been simple.


End file.
